A spectator for most of last Friday’s first leg in Newcastle, Nhu’s charges were 3-0 down by the time she entered the fray as a 59th minute substitute, and while her selection prospects for Wednesday’s clash remain uncertain, the diminutive forward is confident her side will give the Matildas more of a test at Quang Ninh Province’s Cam Pha Stadium.

The Southeast Asians, still chasing their first senior goal against the Australians, need to score at least five in order to keep their Tokyo 2020 dream alive, with Ante Milicic’s side unbackable favourites to secure their place after a dominant home win.

With Vietnam chasing the more realistic goal of achieving a one-off result on home soil, the-AFC.com looks at some of their key players to watch.

The on-loan Melbourne City star delivered another standout performance, causing havoc down the right flank and delivering the assist for Sam Kerr’s bullet header, which got the scoring underway in the 10th minute.

The feel-good story when Australia’s Olympic squad was announced four years ago, Carpenter – still only 19 – has established herself as one of the world’s best young players, starring for club and country as an ultra-aggressive full-back.

The Southeast Asian champions were swept aside by a 5-0 margin in the opening leg of the tie at Newcastle’s McDonald Jones Stadium on Friday, leaving them a near-impossible task in the home leg at Cam Pha Stadium.

A Matildas return to the Olympic stage now appears a mere formality after a Sam Kerr brace and goals from Chloe Logarzo, Emily van Egmond and Clare Polkinghorne took the seventh-ranked Australians to a one-sided victory at McDonald Jones Stadium.

But while a Vietnamese recovery appears distinctly unlikely, Milicic – who has years of experience in Asian football, and whose men’s U-23 national team was defeated by Vietnam in 2018 – is aware that away trips on the continent are not always as straightforward as they seem, and urged his side to remain focused.

At no stage did Vietnam give up the fight in the 5-0 first leg defeat, but the Southeast Asian champions were outclassed by Ante Milicic’s outfit, which boasts players with years of experience at the highest levels of the women’s game.

Sam Kerr became the Matildas joint all-time second highest scorer with a goal in each half, with Chloe Logarzo, Emily van Egmond and Clare Polkinghorne also getting on the scoresheet in a comprehensive display.

Vietnam’s defeat was an improvement on the 8-0 loss they suffered in the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup, but the odds of the SEA Games gold medallists advancing to a first ever Olympics appear implausibly slim ahead of next Wednesday’s second leg in Quang Ninh.